Electrical connector shield having an internal cable clamp

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a electrical connector shield wherein one end retains an electrical connector and the other end contains an opening defined by arcuate portions and a curved inner wall against which electrical leads emanating from the connector are simultaneously clamped and deflected away from the shield at an angle.

United States Patent Hollyday et al.

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR SHIELD HAVING AN INTERNAL CABLE CLAMP Inventors:Robert David Hollyday, Hershey;

Paul Francis Schofield, Harrisburg,

both of Pa.

Assignee: AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Filed: Feb. 28, 1974 Appl. No.: 446,988

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Scr. No. 228,654, Feb. 23,1972, abandoned.

US. Cl. 339/103 M; 339/208 Int. Cl. HOlR 13/58 Field of Search 339/103M, 105, 107, 92,

Sept. 9, 1975 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,121,3296/1938 Rowe 339/272 UC 3,054,081 9/1962 Bertram et al. 339/103 M PrimaryExaminer-Roy Lake Assistant ExaminerDeWalden W. Jones Attorney, Agent,or FirmAllan B. Osborne, Esq.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT The present invention relates to a electrical connectorshield wherein one end retains an electrical connector and the other endcontains an opening defined by arcuate portions and a curved inner wallagainst which electrical leads emanating from the connector aresimultaneously clamped and deflected away from the shield at an angle.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEB SEP 91975 saw 1 or 2 ELECTRICALCONNECTOR SHIELD HAVING AN INTERNAL CABLE CLAMP This is a continuation,of application Ser. No. 228,654, filed Feb. 23, 1972 abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Electrical connectors, containing manyterminal contacts which are terminated to as many electrical conductorsor leads are housed in some form of shield. The multitude of leadsemanating from the connector require some means whereby such leads canbe collected into a coherent stream for ease in handling after they haveleft the shield and also to provide strain relief and to protect theterminations.

Prior art devices insofar as known, universally employ a strain reliefassembly in the nature of a clamp or collar such as taught by US. Pat.No. 3,056,942. Generally attached to the outside of the shield, theclamp supports the multitude of leads as they exit from the opening,thereby transferring lead strain to the shield. Further, such clamp canbe utilized to direct the leads away from the shield at different anglesas disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,483,309.

Outside mounted clamps can result in elongating the total housingpackage, particularly where space is critical. Further, such clamps arebulky and offer projections on which leads coming from other nearbyhousings can be entangled.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a shield for an electricalconnector from which a plurality of electrical leads emanate. The shieldconsists of two halves forming, in cooperation with each other, aportion at one end for receiving the electrical connector, an opening atanother end through which the leads pass, a curved inner wall facing theopening, a slot transverse to and opening into the opening opposite thecurved wall and a clamp-deflector slidably mounted in the slot operableto force the leads against the inner wall and also operable to deflectthe leads away from the shield as they exit from the opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective viewshowing the components of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one component shown in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views of a part of the components shown in FIG. 1illustrating the operation of the instant invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. I, an assemblyplug unit, designated at a, is seen on the left. On the right,receptacle unit 10b, which consists of two subassemblies, is shown inexploded fashion. One subassembly is the electrical connector 12a andthe other subassembly is connector shield 14.

Connector 12a includes a flange 15 consisting of a front plate 160 and arear plate 18, the two being joined by tabs on plate 16a being crimpedover plate 18. Holes 22, positioned in flanges 15, are provided so thatunit 10a on the left may be bolted to unit 10b on the right if such isdesired.

Plate 16a contains a forward projecting, trapezoidal shaped shroud 24awhich houses a dielectric connector block 26a. Block 26a houses aplurality of terminal contacts 280, such being of the female type.Terminal contacts 28a are in turn terminated to electrical leads 30which are seen extending away from connector 120.

Connector 12b is similar to connector 12a except that shroud 24b onplate 16b is sized so as to receive shroud 24a therein, and electricalblock 26b houses a plurality of contacts 28b of the male type adapted toelectrically mate with contacts 28a.

Turning now to shield 14 and directing attention to FIG. 2 as well as toFIG. 1, it is seen that shield 14 consists of two halves, designatedherein as right half 34a and left half 34b, integrally joined by hinge36. Completing the subassembly is clamp deflector 38.

Turning first to right half 34a, a base portion 40 is enclosed onopposite sides by upstanding wall portions 42 and 44 which areintegrally joined therewith. The front of base portion 40 narrows todefine a projecting shelf 46 which is raised to define an inwardlyfacing shoulder 48. A groove 50 is positioned immediately behindshoulder 48 to provide a seating space for flange 15 on connectors 12aand 12b. As seen on the left of FIG. 1, shoulder 48 retains connector12b from forward movement.

A wall 52 is positioned on base 40 on the end opposite shelf 46 and isintegral therewith and with wall portions 42 and 44. An electrical leadchannel 54 separates wall 52 into left side 52a and right side 52b. Leftside 52a contains a slot 56, an outer arcuate portion 58, and an innerarcuate portion 60, the latter'bridging the two sides 52a and 52b. Apost 61 is positioned at each end of inner arcuate portion 60. Aradiused groove 62 is also positioned on left side 52a, one end 64opening into slot 56 and its other end 66 opening on the outside ofshield 14 in recessed area 68. The end 66 is enlarged to receive thehead of self-tapping screw 70 while end 64 is sized to receive the shankof the screw.

Right side 52b is characterized by having its inner wall 72 curve to theright rearwardly. This structure results in an enlarged end of channel54.

Apertures 74 are provided in left and right sides 52a and 52b to receiveself-tapping screws 76.

Left half 3419 is with two differences, the mirror image of right half34a. The first difference is that there are two holes 78 which are inaligned locations with apertures 74 on right half 340. Each holecontains a recess or counterbore (78a on the assembled unit on the left)adapted to receive the head of a screw 76.

The second difference is a recess 61a positioned in aligned locationwith and adapted to receive posts 61 on right half 34a.

Clamp deflector 38 has a beveled side 80 and three straight sides 82, 84and 86. Edge 88, which connects side 82 and beveled side 80, and edgewhich is between side 86 and beveled side 80 are both rounded.

OPERATION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate one ofthe important and novel features of the present invention. Both Figuresshow half 34a of shield 14 with half 34b omitted for reasons of clarity.Electrical connector [2a with electrical leads 30 attached thereto isshown in place with shelf 46 indicated in FIG. 3 by dashed lines.

In FIG. 3 it was desired to have electrical leads 30 leave shield 14 atan angle thereto. This was achieved by simply placing clamp-deflector 38in slot 56 so that beveled side 80 faced inwardly and then pressing itagainst leads 30 via screw 70. This directs the leads along curved innerwall 72. At the same time clampdeflector 38 clamps leads 30 against theinner wall so as to relieve any strain on leads 30.

FIG. 4 illustrates the situation where leads 30 leave shield 14 directlyto the rear thereof. This was achieved by simply placing clamp-deflector38 in slot 56 so that beveled side 80 faces outwardly and edge 90presses leads 30 against inner wall 72 via screw 70. As noted above,leads 30 are being simultaneously clamped to shield 14.

Note in FIGS. 3 and 4 that the edges of clampdeflector 38, being round,do not cut into leads 30 as such press thereon.

Housing 14 and clamp-deflector 38 are molded from a thermo-plasticdielectric material. In addition to the obvious cost-benefits resultingfrom using such materials and such means of manufacture, this deviceallows much greater ease of assembly, the versatility of two choices ofcable exit direction, and the need for no other insulation materials asare required in prior art devices employing metallic shield and cableclamps.

It is intended that the particular embodiment of the invention shown anddescribed herein is merely illustrative and the spirit and scope of theinvention is limited only by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical connector shield adapted to contain an electricalconnector having a plurality of electrical leads attached to the backthereof, which comprises:

a. an insulating housing consisting of two hinged halves, having,

a front portion adapted to receive an electrical connector having aplurality of electrical leads attached to the back thereof; a rearportion having a channel thru which said electrical leads may pass, saidchannel defined by a generally straight wall on one side and on theopposite side a wall consisting of a straight section and a curvedsection, the curved section being positioned adjacent an outside wall ofthe housing, and

a slot in said rear portion and opening into said channel from thegenerally straight wall;

b. a movable clamp deflector slidably mounted in said slot, saiddeflector having a beveled side which when facing inwardly toward thefront portions force electrical leads which may pass thru the channel toleave the shield in a direction generally parallel to the curved sectionand when the beveled side faces outwardly, electrical leads which maypass thru the channel would be forced to leave the shield in a directiongenerally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shield; and

c. means for advancing or withdrawing said clamp deflector into or outof said channel.

1. An electrical connector shield adapted to contain an electricalconnector having a plurality of electrical leads attached to the backthereof, which comprises: a. an insulating housing consisting of twohinged halves, having, a front portion adapted to receive an electricalconnector having a plurality of electrical leads attached to the backthereof; a rear portion having a channel thru which said electricalleads may pass, said channel defined by a generally straight wall on oneside and on the opposite side a wall consisting of a straight sectionand a curved section, the curved section being positioned adjacent anoutside wall of the housing, and a slot in said rear portion and openinginto said channel from the generally straight wall; b. a movable clampdeflector slidably mounted in said slot, said deflector having a beveledside which when facing inwardly toward the front portions forceelectrical leads which may pass thru the channel to leave the shield ina direction generally parallel to the curved section and when thebeveled side faces outwardly, electrical leads which may pass thru thechannel would be forced to leave the shield in a direction generallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of the shield; and c. means foradvancing or withdrawing said clamp deflector into or out of saidchannel.